North Dakota’s first business hall of fame opens in Medora

North Dakota’s first business hall of fame opened in Medora with a question that reaches well beyond the Harold Schafer Heritage Center: which businesses deserve to stand as the model for small-town success, and will the next round include entrepreneurs from places like Jamestown and Stutsman County?

Built on Grit: ND Business Hall of Fame is a free exhibit created by Dakota Business Lending with the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. It opened June 1 inside the Harold Schafer Heritage Center and was marked with a grand opening ceremony Tuesday morning, June 16. The display features 17 North Dakota businesses across four categories, with selection based on whether a company was founded, headquartered or operating in North Dakota, whether it still has an active business or a lasting legacy, whether it is for-profit, and whether it represents a range of industries, locations and business types.

That standard matters. If the hall of fame is meant to do more than celebrate the usual big names, it has to show that Main Street businesses, family firms and regional employers can earn the same recognition as legacy brands. For communities in Stutsman County, where keeping local ownership and local jobs often determines whether a town grows or thins out, the exhibit’s criteria will shape whether this becomes a statewide honor roll or a real pipeline for the next generation of business owners.

Organizers said the exhibit was designed to inspire future entrepreneurs and highlight the resilience, creativity and long-term commitment behind North Dakota business success. Dakota Business Lending said it has been providing financing solutions to small businesses in the state since 1982, and the launch was timed in part to the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations and the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

Among the inaugural inductees is Steffes, and founder Paul Steffes attended the June 16 ceremony with his wife, Laurie. Baker Boy of Dickinson is also featured. The company was founded in 1955 in Hebron before relocating to Dickinson, and it now employs about 250 people and distributes frozen bakery products across 35 states.

The exhibit includes interactive elements, educational displays and a scavenger hunt for visitors of all ages. It is open daily, free of charge, and organizers are already accepting submissions for businesses to be considered for future inclusion, setting up the real test of whether North Dakota will use this new hall of fame to broaden who gets remembered, and why.